Historical information

Cheltenham is a suburb in the City of Kingston that was originally established as a rural market gardening community. The area is bordered by Highett, Mentone and Heatherton. The market gardens, farms and paddocks have gradually been sub-divided into housing and industrial estates. The Southland shopping centre is a major feature of the area.

Significance

Cheltenham was established as a rural market gardening community. The Le Page family lived in Cheltenham since 1854 when Nicholas Le Page, a tailor from the Channel Island of Guernsey, bought two acres of land on Chesterville Road near Bernard Street to establish a market garden. Over the years the Le Pages purchased more land in the area. In 1875-76 Nicholas' son Frank and his wife Mary built 'Daphne Cottage' near the corner of Bernard and Wilson Streets. n the 1940s Frank's son, Everest Le Page, bought five more lots of land in Chesterville Road from the Tuck family. The Le Pages grazed horses, ponies and cows on this land, and grew pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, onions, potatoes and cabbages. Many buildings and locations within in Cheltenham commemorate the Le Page family's contribution to the Cheltenham community.

Physical description

Aerial photograph taken in 1945 of the Cheltenham district within the City of Kingston. The image includes Chesterville Road, the future site of Turner Road pool (now Waves) and Highett Reserve, (top left), Jellicoe Street, Argus Street, Bernard Street, Wilson Street, the Methodist Children Homes (now Southland), McIvor Street, Goulburn Street, Nepean Highway, Jamieson Street and Barker Street (bottom left), market gardens and paddocks. In the top centre of the image, "Daphne Cottage", the home of Frank T. Le Page is visible on the corner of Bernard and Wilson Streets. Much of the land depicted in this image was owned by the Le Page family. This image is possibly from the collection of aerial photographs commissioned by the Department of Crown Lands and Survey and taken by Adastra Airways.

Inscriptions & markings

Black and white ink: 57250
White print: VIC-170 57250 20.12.45 Run 6 PROJ. No. 5 MELB. METROP AREA
Black type 10200 FTS 30' LENS 20.12.45